Empty Autumn
by Starlighteyez
Summary: Craig has hated autumn ever since his mother died. He has always felt that he should've been able to help her. But when memories of her death cloud his mind, will he be able to save another from suffering the same fate as his mother?
1. Silence is Louder than Words

*I don't know how Craig's mom died, so this is just my best guess. This is before the whole Ashley-Craig-Manny thing.  
  
Craig hated this time of year. He wished somehow, that they could skip from summer straight to winter. Cut out all the autumn months. Cut out all the months filled with pain. Yet every year, they came. And every year, they were horrible.  
  
He was certain that this year would be better. Actually, he was determined for this year to better. And it was, all because of Ashley. She was what was going to make this fall miraculous.  
  
"Joey, I'm going to school!" Craig called down the hall as he handed Angie a piece of toast that popped out of the toaster, "Later Ang," He patted his little sister on the head, and maneuvered his way to the door through all of the toys on the ground.  
  
He walked down the street toward the school. As he walked, he checked his watch to see if he'd have time to walk with Ashley to school. 7:30.* Good, I have enough time to get there, and make it to school without being late.* As he looked back up, he noticed he was at an intersection. He waited for the signal to cross the street, and while he waited, he saw a jeep run a red light, and almost collide with a small green car. Suddenly, the memories came flooding back.  
  
  
  
It was 8:30 at night when the phone rang. Craig reached over the back of the tan leather couch to grab the cordless phone behind him, never once taking his eyes off the TV screen.  
  
"Hello?"He answered groggily. Craig waited for a voice on the other end of the phone to reply, but when nothing came, he sat forward and repeated a little louder, "Hello?" Soon sobbing noises were audible on the other end. Craig reached for the TV remote and hit 'mute'.  
  
"Who is this?"By now he was more than a little impatient, and kind of worried.  
  
Finally, a response from the other person, "Craig? Is that you?" Craig racked his brain, trying to match the voice to a person. But the voice was so sad, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.  
  
He finally gave in, and answered the caller, "Yes, this is Craig. May I ask who is calling?"  
  
Craig waited for the voice's name, but was completely shocked and mortified when instead came the words, "Craig, your mom has been in a serious accident."  
  
Craig's eyes widened, and he finally matched the person to the voice, "Joey? Joey is that you? What do you mean she's been in a serious accident? Joey what happened? Is she hurt?"  
  
It was so much for his twelve-year-old mind to take in, that he was alleviated when he heard Joey say, "No, she's not in any pain."  
  
He let a sigh of relief, when all of a sudden, it hit him like a speeding bullet to the heart, "Joey, if she's not in any pain, then why are you crying?"His voice was very firm.  
  
"Craig, is your dad at home with you?"Joey pleaded more than asked.  
  
"No, he's at the hospital. Joey, I want to know NOW! Why are you crying if she's not hurt?! Is she. . .is she. . ."he couldn't even finish the sentence. But by the increase of sobs from Joey, he could tell that his worst fear had come true. His mother was dead, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. 


	2. Unpredictable Reactions

*This is my first fan fiction, so I'm sorry if it's not that good.  
  
As he snapped back to reality, Craig realized it was really chilly. He pulled his black gloves out of the pocket of his jacket, and puled them on. After a few minutes of trying to get into a better mood, he arrived at Ashley's house.  
  
He knocked on the door, and a few moments later, it was yanked open by Tobey, "Oh, it's just you . . . "he left the door open so Craig could come in.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Tobey," Craig shouted after him, as he wiped his feet on the welcome mat and came in.  
  
"Ya, whatever, just shut the door behind you."Tobey called over his shoulder. Craig did as he was told, and followed Tobey into the kitchen.  
  
He smirked when he saw his girlfriend sitting at the kitchen table with a spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. She was reading the morning newspaper and seemed to have forgotten the silver spoon she held in her hand. Craig staggered toward her, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, "Anything interesting going on in the world?"  
  
She rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she sighed, "More children died in a Third World country of starvation and lack of nutrition."  
  
"Just the usual then?"Craig joked as he picked up her abandoned spoon and took a bite of her cereal.  
  
Soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had made a mistake. His assumption became clear as her eyes bore holes into him, "Craig, this is serious. We take everything for granted. I mean, we should live every day like it was our last."  
  
"Ash, believe me, I know about untimely deaths. But you got to stop taking everything in such a crucial manner."Craig shrugged it off, grabbed Ashley's hand, and pulled her out of her chair, "Come on, get a move on. I scheduled it so we wouldn't be late to school, but that was before we had our little worldly discussion."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"Ashley smiled as Craig hurried her out the door, "I need my jacket . . . "She managed to reach inside and grab her jacket off the hook, just before Craig closed the door behind them, "I should go see if Tobey wants to walk with us," Ashley turned, and was almost to the door, when Craig's arm wrapped around her waist, and pulled back to him.  
  
"He can take the bus," he grumbled into her hair, "Why was he so disappointed when he answered the door this morning?" Craig took off his gloves, and handed them to Ashley.  
  
As they walked down the sidewalk, and she slid her hands into the warm gloves, she explained, "Oh, he's been waiting for some stupid computer game, or something . . . "  
  
"It's not even eight in the morning," Craig shook his head, and lightly held Ashley's hand.  
  
" Okay, maybe it's a good computer game," Ashley shrugged her shoulders.  
  
Craig smiled and reached into the back pocket of his jeans, and pulled out a small rectangular box, "Here, this is for you," he handed her the grey, soft container, and bashfully looked away.  
  
He could hear her gasp of delight at the sight of the elegant ring, "Oh my God! Craig this is amazing! You can't afford this . . . "Craig smiled as she went on about the ring. He was so pleased that she liked the gift. He had spent what seemed like weeks in that jewelry store. They all looked the same to him. Ashley kept thanking him, and asking where he got the money.   
  
He swallowed hard, "My dad was rich, remember?"He tried to joke, but Ashley bit her lower lip and looked away. The thoughts of his father on that tragic night filled his mind.  
  
  
  
"Hello? I'm Craig Manning. May I please speak to my father?" Craig barely made his way through the sentence as he spoke to the cherry receptionist on the other end of the phone.  
  
"Craig? I haven't seen you in so long! Your dad says you've been so busy with school that you haven't had time to stop by the hospital! . . ."Craig felt like he was about to break into a thousand pieces as he waited for a chance to interrupt her.  
  
Finally, it became too much to bear. He took a deep breath before exclaiming, "My mom just died, okay?! I'd find it really helpful if you'd just stop talking, and go find my dad!"  
  
By the way the woman said, "I'll go get him," he could tell he had broken her spirits. But he couldn't help it.   
  
"Hey Craiggers!" His father's voice picked up cheerfully. For a moment, a rush of hate for his father ran through his body. *How could he be happy at a time like this? * Craig wondered to himself. He soon realized the nurse must not have told him what happened.  
  
"Dad?"Craig began unsurely, "Something bad has happened." He couldn't bring himself just to come out and say it.  
  
"Craig, what's the matter?" He sounded very concerned.  
  
"There was an accident. I don't know exactly what happened yet, but Mom was in a car accident." Then his father sighed. *Was that a sigh of relief?! * Craig's anger began to grow.  
  
"Craig you had me so worried. I thought it was something horrible!"Dr. Manning let out an uneasy chuckle.  
  
Fury coursed through Craig's veins, and he could feel how stern his voice was, "Something horrible did happen Dad. Mom's dead. She died, Dad. Gone forever."  
  
Craig heard his father mumble something about 'karma', but he didn't hear anything else his father said. For at that moment, he realized he wasted his time calling his father. He let his finger glide over to the 'End' button, and press it.  
  
He took a deep breath before walking up to his room, and grabbing the piece of paper with Joey Jeremiah's number on it. 


	3. Quick Thinking

"Craig? Are you okay?"Ashley's voice intruded his thoughts as they neared the school.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night,"Craig half-lied.  
  
Ashley gave him a knowing look, before walking through the double doors Craig had opened for her.  
  
Craig shook his head as he stood outside for a second longer. *Get it together! * He told himself, then followed Ashley into the school building.  
  
"Are you doing anything tonight?"Ashley asked Craig as she grabbed his hand again.   
  
"Nope," Craig smiled at her. *She knows how much I need her right now. * He loved the way Ashley knew when to stand by him, and when to give him some time to himself.  
  
"Should I meet you at your house? Around seven?"Ashley asked as they neared her home room.  
  
"I could walk over and get you," Craig suggested.  
  
"Craig, I'll be fine. I'll meet you at your house at seven,"she gave him a sweet kiss on the lips before disappearing into her classroom.  
  
Craig shook his head as he headed to his own home room.  
  
Craig sat in the Jeremiah's livingroom. He folded his hands in his lap, waiting for somebody to speak. He noticed Joey's eyes were bloodshot as he sat in the armchair across from him, "Does Ang know?" Craig didn't know how much longer he could've dealt with the silence, so he decided to break it himself.  
  
Joey slowly shook his head, "I don't want to wake her up. I'll tell her in the morning . . ." His voice trailed off.  
  
Craig could tell Joey was about to cry again, "She'll never even know her. She won't even know she existed. I can't tell her, Craig. I can't wake her up tomorrow just to tell her that she will never see her mom again."  
  
Craig didn't know what to say. He hardly even knew Joey. His dad had never wanted him to hang around Joey. The only time he was permitted to see his mom, was when he was at her house, every other weekend.  
  
The court had thought his dad's house would be the most stable living environment. Craig didn't agree. It didn't really matter what Craig thought, though. His father had the money. That was it.  
  
Craig's mom had been trying to get full custody of Craig. She was telling the court that Mr. Manning was home enough, and that it didn't matter how much money he had. They didn't seem to care.  
  
Craig couldn't believe there was a grown man crying in front of him. He'd only seen his dad angry; not happy, not sad, and definitely not crying.  
  
Soon, Joey had controlled himself, and just sat there staring at the clock. Craig decided to speak again. He didn't know how he managed to get the words out, "Joey? How did my mom die?"  
  
He got the main idea. She was in a car accident. But he wanted to know the whole story.  
  
Joey sighed, "She–she was driving in her jeep. There was a red light, and–and she ran through it. A truck, well, the truck couldn't stop quickly enough . . . and-and it drove right through her."  
  
Joey sank back in his chair. Craig sat there contemplating everything Joey had just said. *Would she have run a red light for no reason? No, there had to be a reason. Mom was free spirited, but she wasn't reckless. *  
  
Craig waited a second before asking, "Joey? Where was she going?"  
  
Joey stared at him with sorrowful eyes. The pained expression scared Craig, but he was even more frightened when Joey didn't answer him.  
  
  
  
  
  
Craig sat on his bed, trying to finish his homework before Ashley got there. He heard a knock at his door, "Come in!"  
  
Joey entered the room, and sat down at the desk chair, "What's up, Craig?"  
  
Craig shook his head, "Nothing much. Ashley's coming by in half an hour or so."  
  
Joey nodded, and looked at some of the posters hanging on Craig's walls.  
  
"Did you want something?" Craig asked uncertainly. *He wants to talk about something. *  
  
"Uh, yeah. It's just that . . . uh, well your mom's . . ." Joey didn't have to finish the sentence.  
  
*This weekend he wants to go put flowers on her grave. * Craig nodded his head, and Joey smiled as he stood up to leave. Craig was startled when he stopped him, "Um, Joey? Can I ask you something?"  
  
Joey stopped in the doorway and sat back down, "Yeah, sure. You know you can talk to me about anything Craig."  
  
*Yeah, right. * Craig took a deep breath, willing himself to ask the question, "Where was she going that night? Why did she run the red light?"  
  
Joey's eyes glazed over, "Craig, it doesn't really matter, right? I mean, it's not going to change anything."  
  
Craig nodded, "I know, I know that. I just think, well, I think I'd feel better if I knew."  
  
Joey sighed, "Okay, okay. She finally got the custody papers."  
  
It took Craig a moment to fully comprehend what Joey said. *Custody papers? *My* custody papers?! *  
  
"Joey, was she coming to tell me?" Craig was shaking.  
  
Joey stood up to embrace Craig, "Yeah, she wanted to tell you face to face. She was so excited."  
  
Craig pulled away from him, "I'm fine Joey. Really, I'm fine. I mean, it doesn't change anything. You're right."  
  
Craig headed out the door, "Craig! Wait!" Joey called after him.  
  
Craig ran down the street. He could feel his face getting hot. He tried to focus on his breathing. *I'm fine. I'm FINE! * He tried to convince himself.  
  
He saw Ashley across the street. He could feel the tears streaming down his face. That's when Ashley noticed him, "Craig! Craig are you okay?" She called across the street.  
  
*She must've been so scared. * "Craig!" Ashley screamed across the street as he started tugging on his hair.  
  
*It's all my fault. I would've lived with her, Joey, and Angie. Angie would know her. Dad wouldn't be dead . . . *. He noticed Ashley running across the street to him. *What? Ashley? *  
  
That's when he saw the car, "ASHLEY!" He screamed as he ran out in the middle of the street, "Move!" He shoved her as hard as he could. She fell off to the side, and watched as the silver jeep drove over him.  
  
"Craig!" She cried. Everything around her stopped. She couldn't move. She couldn't hear anything around her. All she could see was Craig's face as he shoved her out of the way.   
  
"I'm really going to be fine," she heard him whisper. And for once, she knew it was true. 


End file.
